Taking a day to explore art

Instead of just being captured on canvas, on Feb. 9, the reservoir will capture the attention of art lovers during the second Wachusett Reservoir Art Path.

“It’s an opportunity that doesn’t always come together,” Mark Baldi said of the event, set to run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Feb. 9, or Feb. 10 if snow forces rescheduling.

Baldi, president of the West Boylston Arts Foundation, has spearheaded the Wachusett Reservoir Art Path to encourage people to discover the art being made locally.

The Arts Foundation has worked to promote and support arts and music in the schools.

He said the self-guided art tour is a little different than events such as Clinton’s Olde Home Day or West Boylston’s FallFest.

“A lot of artists can’t make those types of events,” he said. “This is a little different. People can go directly to them.”

In addition to people in the four towns involved — Clinton, Sterling, Boylston and West Boylston — “it brings people into the area,” Baldi said.

“Hopefully, people make a day of it,” he said, noting the scenic drive around the reservoir, including everything from older villages such as Oakdale to the mill town feel of Clinton, with many attractions and nice restaurants along the way.

Cheryl Parabicoli said she loves when other cities have art events on a regular basis.

“It will be great to get people to town for any reason,” Parabicoli said. “Every little bit helps.”

Parabicoli will show some of her paintings at The Tinker’s Cart, her High Street store in Clinton, along with other items on sale.

Also on High Street, the Gallery of African Art, entered through the Sunrise Boutique, will feature art from another continent.

And down the street, classic works from yet another continent, and hundreds of years old, are on display at the Museum of Russian Icons, which is offering discounted admission for those mentioning the tour.

“There is a good variety of different types of artists and venues,” Baldi said, “between jewelry, metal sculpture, wood turning and all types of painting.”

People can get information directly from the artists often as they watch them work.

“The idea is to build this kind of tour around a natural resource, a feature that is a big part of the towns,” Baldi said.

Stephen Koleshis, of Sterling, has people dropping things off to him that might otherwise simply end up at the recycling center.

A metalworker, his welding transforms what others see as metal scrap into art.

Koleshis said he believes in the Arts Association mission to support art in the schools.

For his artwork, “I find interesting shapes and parts of machinery and bring it home and weld it together.”

Since he has retired, he said, he has gotten deeper into the artwork.

“Sometimes it gets out of hand, and I have given some back,” he said of his raw materials, which range from shovel heads to old basketball hoops.

An entire family of shovelheads covers a wall in his home, just waiting for a visit.

Other venues in Clinton include Collins Artworks, Coffeelands Worlds Gifts Espress Café and China Time Restaurant and Gallery, on High Street, Sooo Chic Boutiqu and Thai Time Restaurant and Gallery, on Church Street, and Boston Studio Photography West, on Main Street.

A map of the tour with information on the artists participating, as well as information on the Arts Foundation, is available online at: www.wbaf.org and GoogleMaps. For more information and directions at http://goo.gl/maps/imDpa,

“It worked out very well,” Kevin Nee said of those who dropped by his West Boylston studio during the first Art Path last year. He served cookies and cider, but people stopped to see his woodturning and small furniture work.

“I say I make art usable,” he said of the items he makes by hand on his lathe.

“The response was great, probably 60 people came through,” Lynn Babineau of West Boylston said of last year’s event.

“They all thought it was a great idea. Some had no idea we had so many artists in this area,” she said. “They came from everywhere,”

Babineau, who works in watercolors, collage and miniature portraits on ivory, said, “There was an interest in everything we’re doing,”adding “I almost considered not doing it this year so I could see the other artists.”

She said she enjoyed the interactions.

“It was really good for me as an artist. I got a chance to talk to people,” Babineau said.

“It’s a really wonderful opportunity to open up to a new audience who don’t know my professional work,” Cherie Clinton, of Boylston, said.

Clinton, who has had a studio in Framingham for 15 years, lives in Boylston and has a studio in her home. A painter who works in mixed media on paper, she focuses on landscape-based imagery, such as water and trees.

“It’s a nice opportunity to connect with neighbors, friends and people in the area,” Clinton said.

Hoping for a nice sunny dry day, Clinton said, “People can have a nice little adventure for themselves right in their own backyard.”